Alaska Inter-Tribal Council : Advocating for Alaska Tribal Governments

Tribes look to international allies for political voice

Tribal Chief Gary Harrison of Chickaloon wants to live in a different Alaska -- an Alaska where colonists don't rule his ancestral lands, an Alaska that holds the United States accountable as a rogue nation. Harrison is a self-described sovereignty activist, and it's in the international community, including Venezuela, that he finds hope for a powerful political voice for Alaska's indigenous peoples.

Harrison and other tribal leaders had a chance to meet with Venezuela's ambassador to the United States last week in Anchorage.

Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera used his brief visit to Alaska to announce that his country will renew its free home heating fuel program for 2009-2010, and to talk about the strengthened position of indigenous peoples in South American governments. Alaska, rich in oil resources and native peoples, has more in common with Venezuela than any other state, stated a press release issued in advance of the trip.

Speaking at the University of Alaska Anchorage on Friday, Alvarez told audience members it is time to move away from democracy of the elite to a form of democracy that is representative as well as participatory. Its aim, he said, should be to correct inequality and fight social exclusion. World leaders must adjust their vision to a new reality, Alvarez said; indigenous people may be a threat to governments that wish to dominate, but they are no threat to governments that are genuinely interested in finding a new way of dealing with problems.

"If you want to fight social exclusion you must empower people," he said.

Alvarez offered two examples. In Bolivia, everyone -- regardless of race -- is required to learn one of 26 native languages. Education and support are offered to ensure every resident fulfills their obligation to learn one of the languages, he said. And in Venezuela, native Venezuelans have a constitutionally-guaranteed right to select their own members, via their own rules, for representation on the national assembly -- Venezuela's single-chamber congress. The arrangement, Alvarez said, ensures political voice.

Sovereignty is a right Alaska's tribes are entitled to, but have yet to fully realize, said Brad Garness, president of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council, a non-profit advocacy group for Alaska's tribal governments. Garness said he believes it's important to stand up for people whose voices have been stolen, and says all people have a right to create their own vision of the universe. He believes the state's constitution, and democracy, have been used as weapons to steal the resources of the indigenous people of Alaska. According to Garness, the failure by state and federal governments to recognize tribal sovereignty causes great suffering -- visible in the high alcoholism and suicide rates found among Alaska Natives.

Garness admitted that problems exist in all governments. But he believes it's only in working together that can the humanitarian conditions in rural Alaska be improved.

Ole Lake agreed that there are systematic problems in Alaska, but said he believes they are similar to problems experienced by indigenous people worldwide. Originally from Hooper Bay, Lake now lives in Anchorage and volunteers for AITC. Human rights need to be respected as they relate to people, land, food and resources, he said; whether it is access to food, control of resources, or cultural integrity, fairness and justice matter.

According to Lake, examples of injustice can be found in events as recent as the Point Hope caribou case -- look at the way subsistence hunting was portrayed during the investigation, he said. He cited as another example the billions of dollars that sit in the Permanent Fund while people in Alaska go cold during the winter.

"When you see injustice, you need to do something about it," Lake said.

Lake added that he believes it takes human connectedness to expose the elements that do not work for human survival. With that in mind, he said, he is thankful for the support of solidarity Alvarez offered to Alaska's tribes.

In his remarks at UAA, Alvarez noted that his country has made a concerted effort to ensure part of that nation's oil wealth goes directly to fight poverty -- to provide access to food, education and health care. What would happen, he asked, if oil companies across the world used a portion of their profits to fight poverty worldwide?

The momentum behind globalization is shifting, Alvarez said. Where before it was driven largely by economic forces, he believes it is now growing in complexity, with the environment, energy, poverty and social exclusion among the new priorities.

And with a new administration in control in the White House, Alvarez and Alaska Native leaders are hopeful there may be room for progress.

Thursday, President Barack Obama will meet with tribal leaders from Alaska and the nation in Washington D.C. for a tribal leaders summit. The National Congress of American Indians says it's the type of high-level meeting they've been waiting to have for more than a decade. NCAI president Joe Garcia said the talks will focus on strengthening economic development and improving tribal government services.

Harrison said he believes inequality was at the heart of Alaska's vote for statehood, when many Alaska Natives were excluded from participating because of the territorial government's English literacy requirement. He also believes the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was akin to genocide. Genocide, he says, is anything that destroys a people in whole or in part, and Harrison believes giving up rights to land, and excluding future generations, fits that definition. Add to that, he says, hunting rights and the right to food and to food security, and he believes Alaska's treatment of its indigenous people is in violation of international law.

"The U.S. was supposed to protect the indigenous peoples and their possessions, but instead they have become the spoilers of us," he said.

For Harrison, and for others who share his views, Venezuela's embrace of its native peoples offers hope for a more inclusive way of governing.

Contact Jill Burke at jill_alaskadispatch.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots.